308 Husqvarna
- Thread starter XTB-21
- Start date
That's the next best thing to turning a Mercedes into a potato truck! Sell the HVA to someone who'll appreciate it and buy yourself a new one of those plastic doodads, if you're convinced you need one.
That .308 will still be going strong when the Wizzums and SAUMs and RUMs are nothing but a footnote in the history of firearms...they'll be parked alongside the .307s and .356s and .375 Winchesters and other failed marketing experiments.
That .308 will still be going strong when the Wizzums and SAUMs and RUMs are nothing but a footnote in the history of firearms...they'll be parked alongside the .307s and .356s and .375 Winchesters and other failed marketing experiments.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
For what it's worth, the barrel and chamber are less than half the problem. The short fat cartridges won't feed easily with the feed lips as built. I'm sure there was metal removed so the 51mm .308 would track forward, up and out of a magazine designed for the 57mm 8mm Mauser. Modifying your Husky would require inputs more than a 10" bastard file and an educated guess.
I seem to recall a gun writer testing one of the very first new short fat cartridges, and how he had a single shot rifle because the magazine wouldn't feed.
I seem to recall a gun writer testing one of the very first new short fat cartridges, and how he had a single shot rifle because the magazine wouldn't feed.
I thank you all for your honesty.
First off, I will never sell it.
Secondly, I don't want it butcherd and that's why I asked here.
My father bought it new when he was in the RCMP and passed it down to me.
I have a .308 Browning BAR that I use for white tail hunting as I usually hunt walking and still hunting on ridges and cedar swamps and the second,third and fourth shots are usually quick. I only use the Hva for moose hunting.
I thought rather than buy a Mag for caribou,elk or whatever,(longer range shooting) I would spend the money and have the Hva redone and that way I would use it alot more rather than it sit in the safe.
Just a thought...
Thanks again, Paul
First off, I will never sell it.
Secondly, I don't want it butcherd and that's why I asked here.
My father bought it new when he was in the RCMP and passed it down to me.
I have a .308 Browning BAR that I use for white tail hunting as I usually hunt walking and still hunting on ridges and cedar swamps and the second,third and fourth shots are usually quick. I only use the Hva for moose hunting.
I thought rather than buy a Mag for caribou,elk or whatever,(longer range shooting) I would spend the money and have the Hva redone and that way I would use it alot more rather than it sit in the safe.
Just a thought...
Thanks again, Paul
If your Husqvarna is a large ring and if it has at least a 24" barrel and if the magazine is long enough to accomodate the longer cartridge, then a .300 Win Mag(or a .308 Norma Mag if you handload) might be an option. It will perform as well as the .300 WSM. Any competent gunsmith could help you out with answers and do the required work if you decide to go ahead.
Besides rechambering, the bolt-face would need opening up, the feed rails may need opening up and the feed ramp may need some work.
I would stay away from the new shot mags as apparently they can be a bear to get to feed properly out of some styles of actions.
Besides rechambering, the bolt-face would need opening up, the feed rails may need opening up and the feed ramp may need some work.
I would stay away from the new shot mags as apparently they can be a bear to get to feed properly out of some styles of actions.
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XTB-21 said:
I would go another way Paul. As Mauser98 points out your magazine will accept longer cartridges than the .308 family. You say you want to use this rifle for moose hunting. Why not consider getting your barrel rechambered to something in the 30-06 family. And why not go the extra mile and get it rebored as well. I'm thinking a 35 Whelen would be the cat's ass or even a 338-06 - both excellent moose cartridges. Chances are nothing would have to be done to the magazine and for sure nothing to the bolt face.
I've got a Husky in 30-06 that came from my family too. I've looked into having it rebored to 35 Whelan and IIRC it was around $350 to have it done which I probably will some day.
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Mauser98 & Salty,
Thank you.
These suggestions are why I posted my question here. As I said,I WILL NOT butcher it,nor sell it.
I am not in favour of the short mags either,300 Win mag would be perfect. All I was thinking is the .308 having a short action.
If I choose to proceed....Can you recommend who can do a flawless job?
Thanks,Paul
Thank you.
These suggestions are why I posted my question here. As I said,I WILL NOT butcher it,nor sell it.
I am not in favour of the short mags either,300 Win mag would be perfect. All I was thinking is the .308 having a short action.
If I choose to proceed....Can you recommend who can do a flawless job?
Thanks,Paul
I would be interested in the model number of your Husqvarna. They built rifles based on both small ring(receiver ring approx 1.3" dia) Mausers and large ring(receiver ring approx 1.4" dia) Mausers. Personally, I'd forget the whole thing if it's a small ring.
I'm not in a position to recommend a gunsmith but maybe someone from your part of the world could step up.
I'm not in a position to recommend a gunsmith but maybe someone from your part of the world could step up.
Paul,
Husqvarna never built any 308 Winchesters on a short action. The magazine is already long enough to accomodate either the 300 Win or the 308 Norma magnum.
I had a one rechambered to 308 Norma and a friend of mine has one done to 300 Win. Both rifles required a bit of work to feed properly, but both work just fine.
Having said that, I would leave it as it is and just look for a good used 308 Norma or 300 Win magnum. The Husqvarna will be worth a lot more in its original configuration then it will after being rechambered.
Ted
Husqvarna never built any 308 Winchesters on a short action. The magazine is already long enough to accomodate either the 300 Win or the 308 Norma magnum.
I had a one rechambered to 308 Norma and a friend of mine has one done to 300 Win. Both rifles required a bit of work to feed properly, but both work just fine.
Having said that, I would leave it as it is and just look for a good used 308 Norma or 300 Win magnum. The Husqvarna will be worth a lot more in its original configuration then it will after being rechambered.
Ted
I know of a crown grade 308 that got revamped to a 308 Norma too.
Xtb, does it look like this? This was my Great Uncles Crown grade 06:
Noel
P.S. One other thing that might help figure if it's large or small ring is the safety the rifle has.
Correct me if I'm wrong but my 1950 High Power had the bolt shroud safety and was a large ring, as are the 1951 High Power, and the 1100 Deluxe. If it has the inletted safety on the right side behind the bolt handle like the one pictured and the bolt stop is a tiny knob on the other side from the safety it is likely a small ring reciever.
Xtb, does it look like this? This was my Great Uncles Crown grade 06:
Noel
P.S. One other thing that might help figure if it's large or small ring is the safety the rifle has.
Correct me if I'm wrong but my 1950 High Power had the bolt shroud safety and was a large ring, as are the 1951 High Power, and the 1100 Deluxe. If it has the inletted safety on the right side behind the bolt handle like the one pictured and the bolt stop is a tiny knob on the other side from the safety it is likely a small ring reciever.
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The one in the pic is a 3000...I have one in .30-06 that I've had for 44 years. First rifle I ever owned, and one I'll never part with. They sure did put beautiful wood on rifles in those days!The only flaw I've ever come across is that those stupid looking white line spacers shrink over the years.
I sure did pack a lot of moose meat on account of that rifle, but I'll forgive it....
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Why not? said:
Paul-
Ted gives good advice here. And he's probably owned more Husqavarna's than the king of Sweden
But:Reading your posts carefully I see that you have no plans of selling this rifle. You appreciate its family heritage, but you would like the rifle in a cartridge that will be quite powerfull and "all up" for moose. With this you would likely enjoy it more and use it more.
So I say go for it
They can curse you after your gone for altering the rifle to make it ~20% less valuable but I say who cares!You see I'm in the same position. My rifle (was my grandpa"s) is a crown grade just like yours. Maybe I'm giving myself a pep talk here too
Being small ring mausers I stay with my original suggestion. Stick to the 30-06 family - the rechamber won't take much material away and there won't be a huge amount of pressure with the round. And, you'll have as much knock the moose down power as any of the short magnums IMHO
edit: a couple of gunsmiths were recommended to me for a rechamber/rebore but I can't recall right now - will check my notes
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Mauser98 said:
It is possible, but sometimes you will end up with an annular ring on the fired 30-06 case where the 308 shoulder used to be. I have seen some cases where there was no ring at all, some where it shows.
It's not a big deal, just looks a bit strange. Cases will extract with no problem, and surprisingly, it actually does not have much effect on case life.
All depends on the size of the 308 chamber and how large the '06 reamer cuts the new chamber. The same situation exists when rechambering a 222 chamber to 223.
Having said that, setting the barrel back will insure that the new chamber will be clean, however that raises what some would consider to be cosmetic issues with the appearance of the barrel channel. There will be a small gap between the barrel and the stock, but hey, it's now freefloated!
One more thing, you will then have one less thread mating the barrel to the receiver because the relief cut on the barrel tenon does not allow you to add a thread to replace the one that is lost when setting the barrel back. It will still be plenty, but some folks get a bit concerned about it.
Ted
